The 25th of April is a very special day in the history of Australia and New Zealand. For this day is known as ANZAC Day. Originally it was a day set aside to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who served in the Gallipoli Campaign, which was their first engagement in the First World War.They landed on the Gallipoli peninsular on the 25th of April 1915.
Anzac Day has now been broadened to commemorate all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations.” In 1915 of the total of 44,,150 Allied deaths at Gallipoli 8,709 came from Australia and 2,779 from New Zealand. From the Ottoman side there were 86,692 deaths.
On Anzac Day there are a number of traditional sporting events that take place. In the AFL Collingwood play Esseendon at the MCG and in rugby League traditional rivals St George Illawarra Dragons and the Sydney Roosters play each other on Anzac Day.
There used to be a Rugby League Test match between Australia and New Zealand. It ran from 1997 until 2017 before it was abandoned.
Last year in 2019 with Australia’s Kookaburras and Hockeyroos playing in the FIH Pro League a match against New Zealand’s Blacksticks was scheduled for ANZAC Day.
It was a very special occasion that I was fortunate to be a part of as the commentator on both matches. The crowd responded and it was wonderful to see a match played between the Australian and New Zealand services teams as a curtain raiser. The official proceedings were carried out with respect and dignity and added to a wonderfully unique atmosphere.
Speaking to the players involved in that game, many of whom had relatives who had served their country and died they said that it was a special game to be involved in, and a real privilege.
Incredibly this was the first time ever that both teams had ever played each other on ANZAC Day. After the success of the fixture in Auckland many hoped that this would now be an ongoing fixture, and that a tradition was underway.
It certainly made sense as there is a huge sporing rivalry between both nations. The Australian men’s first ever international was played against New Zealand in 1922. This match was also the New Zealand men’s first Hockey International. The women’s teams first met each other in 1935. So both encounters are approaching their centenary, and it would have been the perfect scenario to have the two nations meet on Anzac day in 2022 and 2035 to commemorate the occasion.
As a side challenge that would also have been nice to see would be teams playing for the Manning Memorial Cup. This cup was created following the death in 1923 of Bert Manning one of the managers on New Zealand’s Tour of Australia while the tour was taking place. The cup was created to acknowledge his contribution and was played for whenever these two sides met, but has not officially been contested since 2001 in Melbourne.
Unfortunately in 2020 there will be no ANZAC Day meeting. The two countries will face off in the FIH Pro League on the 16th and 17th of May. Neither team is playing a match two weeks either side of the 25th of April. Regrettably one of the rules of the FIH Pro league is that teams cannot play each other outside of the official matches while the league is being played. So the chance of keeping a ne tradition alive has been lost.
One of the reasons that may have lead to this decision not to play on this day in Australia could be the ANZAC Day Act.
To start with the Act states that “a sporting event where competitive sport is played AND where either a fee for admission is required to be paid by spectators or donations are sought from spectators, cannot be conducted before 1pm on ANZAC Day.”
The Act goes on to say that “For professional sporting and racing events with a minimum attendance of 5,000 people, a new formula of how eligible organisations contribute to the ANZAC Day Trust has been calculated.” The rule is slightly different in Western Australia, where the games are due to be played in 2020, and hence why they may not be on ANZAC day. It states, “regardless of location within Western Australia, the contribution is 5% of the price of an adult general admission ticket multiplied by the number of people in attendance.”
A legal statutory declaration must then be submitted within 90 days of the proceeds received from the match that was played.
Hopefully, this was not the reason why the opportunity to have a traditional fixture played was missed in 2020. Maybe it is something that needs to be looked at in the future. Would people attend such a match if it was played don ANZAC Day? Having attended the event in Auckland last year, this writer is convinced that all who were there would give a resounding ‘yes’ to that question. It would appear to be another fitting way to remember those who played the sport and died in war, conflict of peacekeeping operations.
